Dr. William R. Ferris pointed out in Mississippi Folk Architecture, that “salvaged” items are common in folk structures.

Items discarded as “junk” in non-folk culture become functional or decorative in folk culture. A tour through the Piney Woods is a study in the art of recycling. Bed-springs become a garden gate. Prince Albert tobacco cans decorate a flower bed, rubber tires become planters, styrofoam egg cartons become tulips. Materials are imaginatively transformed into new uses (Figs. [33]-36).

Conclusion

Folk architecture, defined as traditional structures built by craftsmen with no formal training in architecture, is disappearing. It came from and belonged to people whose lives were closely bound to the soil. Today technology is continuing to alter the cultural landscape and the mobile house trailer, the concrete-block structure, the prefabricated house are the new folk structures.

Transcriber’s Notes